There are so many symbols in Anthem that one could turn to any page and find one-- it's that amazing! The whole society that Rand created in the story is symbolic of some ideology that can drive any heated political or social discussion. First, the element of light is both ideologically and temporally discussed. The society uses candles, the most simplistic forms of light, yet Equality discovers electricity. In this example, the types of light also represent the level of knowledge that a person accepts in the story. The Scholars could not accept electricity like Equality did; therefore, they could only accept the lower form of knowledge according to the rules of their society (which also limits their intellectual progression). The following is a list of other symbols and their meanings from the novel.

The symbolism in Ayn Rand's Anthem revolves primarily around language and literature. The narrator only uses plural pronouns, such as "we," and "us," indicating that the singular personal pronouns of "me" and "I " are unknown to this population. This limited vocabulary symbolically reflects the limited political and social freedoms individuals in this society experience. In addition, there is a lot of physical symbolism in the story. The narrator writes from within a dark tunnel, reflecting the political and cultural darkness of his society. Rand is echoing Plato's allegory of the cave: the man who resides mostly in the tunnel assumes that his own ignorance is universal. The narrator's ignorance is cured when he finds and reads numerous old books and documents, including the U.S. declaration of Independence and several Greek myths. After this, he leaves the tunnel. This departure represents his exit from a life of ignorance and oppression.